UFC 139: What's Next for Miguel Torres?

"It just gives me a bigger audience to show how much of a badass I am and what a cool haircut looks like.”

That was Miguel Torres a year ago, when he got word that his home, World Extreme Cagefighting, was going to be merged with the UFC and that he’d be fighting on the big stage in 2011.

However at the time, the gritty favourite was fresh off two straight losses—one of which cost him his WEC bantamweight title—after going nearly six years without a loss beforehand.

After his win at UFC 139 Saturday night, he’s stabilized himself a little and moved to 2-1 in the promotion and 40-4 overall in his MMA career.

“I feel real good. I'm a little disappointed with my performance, I wanted to knock him out or submit him,” Torres said in the cage after the fight. “I didn't want to rush it, so I was trying to be smart. I've been working on my wrestling a lot, so I was trying a couple takedowns and get up and put the pressure on him.”

So the question becomes: what’s next?

There are a few roads the he could go, depending on what the UFC sees him as and where he fits in the division. Some of the more sensible choices include Eddie Wineland, Brad Pickett, or the loser of Bowles/Faber later this evening,

In Wineland, Torres would see a hungry scrapper that’s lost two in a row and surely wouldn’t back down. An aggressive opponent tends to bring out the best in Torres, or at least allows people to see what he’s made of, and Wineland is exactly that. He’s also fighting with the added pressure of a possible pink slip to fuel him, which wouldn’t hurt in terms of fireworks.

Pickett is similar to Wineland in that he’s scrappy, but is a different fight stylistically. Where Wineland is a solid wrestler who would fend off Torres’ submission game, Pickett would come after him on the feet and force him to engage. Given Miguel’s oddly long frame and unorthodox striking, the potential is there for some serious action.

Should the UFC really want to market a fight though, the loser of Bowles/Faber makes the most sense. Bowles crushed Torres to take his title in 2009, and Torres has longed to get a return engagement since. Meanwhile, ten pounds above the two at that time, Urijah Faber was the main man at featherweight and the only true bankable star the WEC. A meeting with Torres would sell itself.

At the end of the day, it’s good for the UFC to have options for a guy like Miguel Torres. He’s a great personality, a tough guy, and a veteran of the sport. He hasn’t been blowing the doors off the UFC, but he’s steadily been climbing the ladder and his next fight will probably be the one to officially cast him as a contender or pretender.

For that reason, I’m inclined to think one of the first two options could be up next for the man with the mullet, however a good payday is always tough to turn down for Dana and Co., so the loser of Bowles/Faber is also a pretty good bet.

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the November 19 fight card, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis.